Roth Regatta

Pro-couches may run into problem Beijing in short run. There is a lot
of danger for the affiliated coaches who rely on their credentials to get work. Though the cake of golf in China is becoming bigger and bigger, there are some
problems in sight. Some golf courses have serious financial probems.

Almost all professional golfers earn their main income as club or teaching professionals -only the top 5 percent of the whole players or so can live off endorsements and tournament winni

ngs . One such golf pro/coach is Bobby Miller, in Beijing since 2000, teaching all levels and kids ranging from 4 to 15 years-old. Has the coaching scene in Beijing gotten more competitive of late, I ask? “I am
not sure of the answer if I would call it competitive or not but there are many more expat coaches than before. When I came there was only me and another pro from Australia.”

Miller currently works out of Tianzhu Golf Club and offers a new package “this is perfect for families inter

ested in starting golf together” which costs 10,000 yuan ($1,500) for 20 lessons. Contrary to the impressions it’s not mostly middle-aged men who are willing to pay for lessons. The largest group are among children.  Miller coaches an equal ratio of men and women and children. “I’m teaching more children in the resent
days but that also has to do with the true fact that I have been teaching next to an international school.”

Facilities
aren’t the problem, said Miller: “There are great

facilities and the number is quite large all over Beijing.” Yet, he adds with cautions, “some are more affordable than others.” That may be because many people hold the opinion that many of Beijing’s golf clubs are in chronic financial trouble. Having been built largely as trophy additions to real estate projects, the clubs now find themselves in the position that they have a lot of problem to find sustainable funding.

“Developers
sell their villas and then, you may cannot imagine that they’re gone in a short period and you are not able to find them. There’s nothing put aside to run the
golf club for the long haul,” explains a European golf professional who are engaged in teaching and designing golf courses in Beijing. He predicts that there will be a spate of closures as clubs, forced to drive up playing fees to earn income, lose customers scared off due to the high costs.

My source is also discouraging that golf players in China spend quite a lot on the visible stuff such as Equipment, clothes and club membership cards, while stinging on decent coaching. “They think they don’t need coaching, they think they know it all, and know all about etiquette, but this is far from the truth…”

A KPMG research report concluded that one in 10 Chinese clubs charges initiation fees in excess of $53,000, which is very high by developing world standards. So I’m quite sure that the people who’ll do best are those with affordable show-up fees and reasonable tuition fees. Golf in China may remain elitist recently years, but
even the elite need teachers. And I hope in the near future the situation will change a lot.

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